'Highlighting Hillcrest' Presented Dec. 10 at Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock

The Architecture and Design Network will present "Highlighting Hillcrest: History, Architecture and a Sense of Community" on Dec. 10 at the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. 9th St., in Little Rock. This lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the center's Lecture Hall, following a 5:30 p.m. reception.

Speakers will include Rachel Silva, preservation outreach coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program; Tommy Jameson, AIA, with Jameson Architects PA; and James McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan.

In 1891, two young Michigan attorneys purchased 800 acres of land northwest of the city of Little Rock. Within a year, 10 blocks were platted on a section of that acreage by the Pulaski Heights Land Company. Other suburban developments, including Hillcrest, followed. A diversity of housing styles prevailed in those turn-of-the-century neighborhoods. A generous sampling of the area's homes, including Colonial Revival and Craftsman style dwellings, as well as vernacular "pyramid cottages," survive. Hillcrest's historic housing stock includes a variety of architecturally significant structures, built between 1893 and 1940. All are part of the Historic Hillcrest District, an area of the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The story of Hillcrest – a popular Little Rock neighborhood, distinguished by its history, its architecture and its unrivaled community spirit – will be explored by Rachel Silva, preservation outreach coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program; Tommy Jameson, an architect whose firm focuses on the restoration, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings; and James McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan and a founder of the Hillcrest Residents Association. While demographics might provide information about an area's population and its proclivities, it is the mindset of people who live in a particular section of town that determines the parameters, both social and physical, of a neighborhood.

The 2013-14 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, a non-profit organization, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.